Bargarh: Accused youth claims he acted at the behest of BJP candidate Ashok Panigrahi and two other persons of Budhapali village, informs Bargarh SDPO .
It should be noted that at a campaign meeting for the Bijepur by-election at Kumbhari village in Barpali block of Bargarh district on Tuesday, a youth identified as Kartik Meher hurled shoes at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in spite of all security arrangements.

He threw the shoes from a very close range, but alert security personnel foiled his attempt. “While the Personal Security Officer (PSO) of the Chief Minister caught a shoe at the nick of the moment, the second one missed the target,” police sources said.

It was learnt that Meher is not from Kumbhari but from the Padmapur area in the district. There was strong resentment among locals after the unexpected attack on the Chief Minister. They condemned the incident since they didn’t appreciate such an unhealthy practice of protest against the CM in their village. They opined that the BJP would be in back foot after this incident.

Security personnel overpowered the youth and rescued him from the wrath of the people. But Kartik sustained injuries after being attacked by locals and was hospitalised.

While BJD MLA Debesh Acharya blamed the saffron party for the incident, BJP MLA Pradeep Purohit claimed the incident to be the expression of public resentment.